Snowfall Never Lies (Soul Eater Resonance Bang 2015)
by meisterful
Summary: Maka Albarn is the best personal assistant at Grigori Solutions. She's a hard worker, well liked and inching closer to her ultimate goal of returning to school and becoming a business woman, just like her Mama. The road to her dreams isn't an easy one, but nothing, not even kitschy office parties, a vendetta with the I.T. department, a flirty new employee or a mysterious food thief
1. August: Chelsea Dagger

**PART ONE: August "Chelsea Dagger"**

Maka Albarn stared, gobsmacked, at the break room fridge and the empty Tupperware container bearing her name sitting innocently within it. Not quite twenty-three, personal assistant to the vice president of sales and marketing, and enraged beyond all reason, she stared at the four letters that made up her first name in awe. They were plastered all over the container. There was no way anyone could have missed them and mistaken her container for fair game. Besides, this was the fifth time in two weeks. Even at her most forgiving there was no way Maka could deny this wasn't an honest mistake. To add insult to injury, whoever had helped themselves to her lunch had left the tiniest amount of delicious leftover pasta behind in one corner, barely enough for two mouthfuls, more than enough to be considered a taunting challenge, a brazen lack of basic human respect, a declaration of war. Maka huffed angrily and spun on her heel away from the fridge and back out into the office. She power-walked straight back to her desk and plunking down in her chair, opened up Microsoft Word.

 _To the person who keeps stealing my lunches (fettuccini alfredo),_

 _This is rude and unprofessional. We are adults in a work environment, not high school students. Take responsibility for your actions and immediately modify your behaviour and stop stealing other people's clearly marked property!_

 _Regards,_

 _Maka_

Pleased with herself, Maka promptly printed the document. Immediately after she issued the command, a small error notice appeared on her screen. Huffing, Maka clicked _okay_ and tried again. The same error message came up. Apparently her computer had disconnected itself from the printer network _again_. She clicked the print option aggressively a few more times before giving up. Admitting defeat, she transferred the file to a flash drive and walked across the office to plug it into the printer manually.

"Hi, Maka, how's it going?"

Maka looked up to see sales representative Tsubaki standing in front of her. Tsubaki Nakatsukasa was twenty-six and seemed upon first impression far too kind a person to be the ruthless product pushing, client stealing, number one salesperson of Grigori Solutions. However, Maka had gotten to know her pretty well during her six months at the science equipment company and knew that however irreconcilable the two sides of Tsubaki seemed, within one woman existed both a sweet, selfless nurturer, and a force one didn't challenge lightly.

Maka sighed, "Just one of those days."

"Is it the lunch thief again?" Tsubaki leaned against the printer as Maka adjusted its settings.

"Yes! And on top of that my computer won't stay connected to anything wireless again."

"Isn't it a new computer?"

Maka sighed. "Not even a year old."

Tsubaki made a concerned noise at the back of her throat, "I guess you'll have to ask IT about it again."

Maka scrunched up her face, "Ugh, they're useless. The last guy I spoke to hung up on me as soon as he realised who I was. It took me four tries to find someone brave enough to talk to me."

Tsubaki giggled, "You know they're not all that bad. _Some_ of them are actually quite accommodating."

Maka collected her letter to the thief and her flash drive and peered suspiciously at her friend. Tsubaki rarely used that tone of voice unless she was setting someone up on a date, and she never looked so smug about it. Maka couldn't help but be reminded of the last office party, where Tsubaki had spent an unusual amount of time missing after leaving to 'talk' with one of the guys from IT. Afterwards Tsubaki had sworn that all he'd wanted was some help fixing his hair. Apparently he may have wanted a little more than that.

"Tsu, you are _not_ dating that loud-mouthed idiot who got in trouble for coming into work with blue hair, and then had the _audacity_ to demand that the office compensate him for his time and hair dye costs for both the blue _and_ the reversal, are you?"

Tsubaki shrugged.

"Tsu, no! Remember what happened to Kim when she went out with Ox! She had to transfer across the country when they broke up!"

The breakup of Kim Diehl and Ox Ford was a story that many suspected would put a pin in office relationships for years to come. They had been on-again, off-again for about as long as they'd both been at the company. It ended for good at the Christmas party, or as Maka liked to think of it, the "make-out break-out" party. If Maka hadn't been put off by relationships before then, she definitely was after.

"That's different, Maka, Kim was dating within her department and they both let the breakup impact their work. That won't happen to Black*Star and me. Besides, there's no rules against interdepartmental dating," Tsubaki smiled sheepishly. "I checked."

Maka shook her head. "Impressive planning. But what happens if you do break up? You can never get tech support again!"

Tsubaki smiled brightly. "I'll just get you to log all my problems for me. It would be more effective anyway; you've already got half of the department scared senseless! You're basically a legend."

Maka groaned. "That was _one time,_ and Ox was asking for it the way he was carrying on!"

"The Diet Coke incident of two-thousand and thirteen is infamous! It even got everyone to stop talking about Break-Up-Gate 2k13."

Blushing slightly, Maka shook her head, "Come on, Tsubaki, it wasn't that big a deal. Ms. Mjolnir wasn't even angry with me. Besides, we should get back to work."

Tsubaki waved off her protests. "Let me know how it turns out with the lunch thief, and with IT You know, maybe a little bit of flirting might get you help faster. You win more flies with honey and all that."

Maka shook her head incredulously. "I'm not exactly sure how well that would go down."

Or rather, she did, and she'd rather not have to spend the rest of her time at Grigori Solutions trying to live it down.

"It would go down great! You're a total catch! Besides, I hear they've got some new recruits from the merger with the secondary branch down there who might not have even heard about the Diet Coke yet! I'm sure Black*Star knows someone who would be interested!"

Maka fixed Tsubaki with a stern look. "I do not need your obnoxious boyfriend to set me up. I do just fine on my own, whether you know about it or not."

Maka conveniently left out the fact that she hadn't been on a date in close to a year, but that wasn't any reflection on her capabilities if it was by choice. It wasn't that she felt she needed a relationship. She had no interest in casual dating. But even she couldn't deny that it might be nice to have someone who understood her. Still, it'd be a frigid day in hell before she admitted as much to her well-meaning but incredibly meddlesome friends.

"I'll solve my computer problem without using my feminine wiles, thank you very much."

Tsubaki chuckled knowingly and waved to Maka as they headed towards their respective desks.

Maka had been waiting in an online queue for an IT guy to be available for almost five minutes. She was still connected to the company intranet, even if she couldn't get onto any useful network. She almost considered logging off, but having to get up to manually print every document she and her boss could needed would take up even more time in the long run. That, and she refused to fall into the stereotype of an impatient Millennial. She had survived on dial-up for as long as the technology was viable; she could wait a few minutes for some IT help. Regardless of resolve, she tapped her nails against her desk impatiently, frowning at how long they had gotten. She'd have to find some time to cut them when she got home; she couldn't go to her mixed martial arts class with long nails. Her computer dinged and she turned to read the message waiting for her in the open chat box.

 **Grigori Solutions: Soul: Less than a minute ago**

 _Hello, how can I help you?_

Maka immediately typed back.

 **Grigori Solutions: Guest: Less than a minute ago**

 _Hello, my computer won't connect to the office network or the printers, only the intra-net._

 **Grigori Solutions: Soul: Less than a minute ago**

 _I need some basic information to troubleshoot your problem. What's your bay number?_

 **Grigori Solutions: Guest: Less than a minute ago**

 _4545464_

 **Grigori Solutions: Soul: Less than a minute ago**

 _Hello 4545464. Is there another name I can call you by? A number isn't much use beyond locating your machine._

 **Grigori Solutions: Guest: Less than a minute ago**

 _Of course! You can call me Albarn, it's what the computer should be registered under. What should I call you?_

 **Grigori Solutions: Soul: Less than a minute ago**

 _Soul is fine. Well, Albarn, there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with your computer, but if it won't even connect to the printers then something's up. Is it plugged in?_

Maka tensed. What kind of fool did this guy take her for! Of course it was plugged in, she was talking to him, wasn't she? What a typical IT attitude.

 **Grigori Solutions: Guest: Less than a minute ago**

 _Of course it's plugged in!_

 **Grigori Solutions: Soul: Less than a minute ago**

 _Are you sure? Sometimes the smaller wires can come loose._

She glared at her screen. Was she sure? As if anyone without a qualification in computer sciences couldn't figure out that a machine needs to be plugged in to work.

 **Grigori Solutions: Guest: Less than a minute ago**

 _Of course I'm sure! I'm not completely incompetent!_

 **Grigori Solutions: Soul: Less than a minute ago**

 _No need to get defensive Albarn it happens to the best of us. :p_

And now he was teasing her! Well, she'd show him. Maka quickly pulled out her phone and snapped a picture of her computer's neatly ordered cords. She sent the file over Bluetooth for good measure. That would show him!

 **Grigori Solutions: Guest: Less than a minute ago**

 _Attached image: "_ it IS plugged _"_

 **Grigori Solutions: Soul: Less than a minute ago**

 _Attaching an image, colour me impressed Albarn._

She grinned smugly to herself.

 **Grigori Solutions: Guest: Less than a minute ago**

 _I told you I was competent._

 **Grigori Solutions: Soul: Less than a minute ago**

 _I'll never doubt you again._

She bristled slightly, not sure of his intentions.

 **Grigori Solutions: Guest: Less than a minute ago**

 _Are you making fun of me?_

 **Grigori Solutions: Soul: Less than a minute ago**

 _Wouldn't dream of it Albarn. I'm running a more in depth system analysis to try and identify the problem now. It could take a few minutes. Do you mind waiting?_

Even though he was just a stranger typing messages on a computer six floors down, she found herself inclined to take him at his word. Maka took a moment to consider her words before replying.

 **Grigori Solutions: Guest: Less than a minute ago**

 _You say that as if I have a choice._

 **Grigori Solutions: Soul: Less than a minute ago**

 _You don't, but I'm supposed to ask to be courteous; it's company policy and without company policy how could we possibly get any work done?_

She smirked.

 **Grigori Solutions: Guest: Less than a minute ago**

 _You're joking._

 **Grigori Solutions: Soul: Less than a minute ago**

 _Yes._

Two could play at that game.

 **Grigori Solutions: Guest: Less than a minute ago**

 _Is that your best suggestion for how to pass the time, making sarcastic jokes?_

 **Grigori Solutions: Soul: Less than a minute ago**

 _Actually I was going to go for my afternoon coffee, but I could be tempted to stay._

Maka's eyebrows shot up. Was he flirting with her now? When she had proudly declared to Tsubaki that she could get her own dates, she was half bluffing. She'd never really been one for flirting, let alone someone who encouraged it from strangers, but this wasn't exactly the usual stranger-in-a-bar situation. What was the harm in testing the waters and seeing where her skills were at when she was safe behind the computer screen? At the very least she might make a friend in IT and actually have someone to call when things went wrong. She pressed send before she could change her mind.

 **Grigori Solutions: Guest: Less than a minute ago**

 _Oh, you could?_

 **Grigori Solutions: Soul: Less than a minute ago**

 _This conversation has been more scintillating than most. What do you say Albarn?_

 **Grigori Solutions: Guest: Less than a minute ago**

 _Not sure, Soul, coffee is definitely a tempting possibility._

Tsubaki would be proud of how coy she was with that one. Maybe she'd save the conversation for future proof. Then again, it could just as easily turn into blackmail or some elaborate scheme for her to actually go out with the tech guy.

 **Grigori Solutions: Soul: Less than a minute ago**

 _You wound me, Albarn._

 **Grigori Solutions: Guest: Less than a minute ago**

 _You're making it easy_.

Then again, maybe that wasn't the worst thing that could happen.

 **Grigori Solutions: Soul: Less than a minute ago**

 _Damn it. Some idiot spilled a red bull over his computer! I'll put you on with Bart until I'm back._

Maka sighed and turned reluctantly back to her work. So much for that. At least she'd had some fun while it lasted. It was probably for the best that her conversation had been cut short. Nothing good came from getting involved with men, especially ones you worked with. Her mother could definitely testify to that.

Next to her chat window with Soul, a new one with Bart opened up.

 **Grigori Solutions: Bart (THE GREAT BLACK*STAR)** : **Less than a minute ago**

 _Your scan is taking longer than expected. It looks like my lesser colleague went overboard. Typical nerd. I'll let you know when it's done._

 **Grigori Solutions: Guest: Less than a minute ago**

 _Thanks._

 **Grigori Solutions: Bart (THE GREAT BLACK*STAR)** : **Less than a minute ago**

 _Hey Albarn? You still drink diet?_

Maka chose to ignore the last message and tried to focus on her work instead. Not having much luck, she decided she'd steal Soul the IT guy's idea and go grab herself a coffee. Both her plans and the potentially flirtatious Soul fell from her mind when she entered the break room and caught sight of the fridge. Under her perfectly reasonable note a second note was taped. Her nemesis had responded and he had dared waste company colour ink by printing it in _red_ font.

 _Dear Fettuccini Alfredo,_

 _I have your precious pasta and expect it will be just as mediocre as all your past pasta dishes. It's uneaten, for now. Leave $10 on the Dora the Explorer plate in the fridge or you'll never see it undigested again._

Maka stared at the notice, vaguely aware of the rising rage inside of her and how hot her face was beginning to feel.

 **Grigori Solutions: Bart (THE GREAT BLACK*STAR)** : **Five minutes ago**

 _Hey Albarn! You still there? Your scan came back clean again. Could be you've got a buggy computer, could be you're cursed._

Maka typed back furiously, irked at having her attention split between her new office nemesis and an old annoyance.

 **Grigori Solutions: Guest: Less than a minute ago**

 _You know you're going to get in trouble for adding your stupid tagline onto your company account. You are aware of that?_

 **Grigori Solutions: Bart (THE GREAT BLACK*STAR)** : **Less than a minute ago**

 _NO ONE CAN SILENCE THE GREAT BLACK*STAR XD._

 **Grigori Solutions: Bart (THE GREAT BLACK*STAR)** : **Less than a minute ago**

 _Soul says hi by the way._

Food thieves and her annoyance at them momentarily forgotten, Maka felt herself blushing a little.

 **Grigori Solutions: Guest: Less than a minute ago**

 _Did he manage to save the computer?_

 **Grigori Solutions: Bart (THE GREAT BLACK*STAR)** : **Less than a minute ago**

 _That peon didn't stand a chancskldtjiwpjgsf_

Maka stared at her computer screen. If she didn't know better she'd think someone had tried to push Black*Star out of the way or take over typing.

 **Grigori Solutions: Bart (THE GREAT BLACK*STAR)** : **Less than a minute ago**

 _He's an idiot, not even the "Great" Black*Star could have salvaged that computer._

Maka smiled. Anyone who would down talk Black*Star in front of Black*Star, let alone from his own computer account, was someone she had to like.

 **Grigori Solutions: Bart (THE GREAT BLACK*STAR)** : **Less than a minute ago**

 _It's Soul by the way, hold on._

Moments later Soul's chat box activated, pinging brightly on her computer screen.

 **Grigori Solutions: Soul: Less than a minute ago**

 _That's better. He talks shit about other people spilling drinks, but his keyboard is stickier than the bathroom floor of a club._

Maka laughed outright at that before clamping a hand over her mouth and looking around the office quickly. No one seemed to have noticed. She turned back to her computer.

 **Grigori Solutions: Guest: Less than a minute ago**

 _You know you could get in trouble for swearing on a company computer. All these conversations are recorded and saved in case of future issues._

Real cool, Albarn.

 **Grigori Solutions: Soul: Less than a minute ago**

 _I won't tell if you don't ;)_

 **Grigori Solutions: Guest: Less than a minute ago**

 _I don't know. I take the rules very seriously._

She hesitated only a moment before adding an emoji.

 **Grigori Solutions: Guest: Less than a minute ago**

:p

 **Grigori Solutions: Soul: Less than a minute ago**

 _For me?_

 **Grigori Solutions: Guest: Less than a minute ago**

 _Maybe if you share some of that coffee you were talking about earlier._

Maka could hardly believe her own daring. Somehow, in the space of an hour, she had gone from harmless flirtation with no real life consequences to basically inviting him out for coffee! If this got out, she'd never hear the end of it from Tsubaki. Or her boss. Marie Mjolnir was one of those employers who was far more invested in her employees' personal lives than their work performance (so long as their work performance met the minimum requirements, of course). Her chat box stayed ominously silent, so Maka opened up Outlook fully intending to sort through the emails and organise them into a folder system. She tried not to stare at the clock in the corner of her screen, but found her eyes darting to it far too frequently for her liking. After five minutes (not that she was keeping track), Soul's chat box pinged again.

 **Grigori Solutions: Soul: Less than a minute ago**

 _I can take a break in twenty, just have to finish a few things first. How do you like your coffee?_

She stared at the screen not quite believing what she was reading. He was coming up here, to see her, with coffee. Talking in person was a whole other ballgame and wariness rose in her chest, overpowering the twinges of excitement that had been there before. Well, she decided, she'd let his reaction to her coffee order decide. If he made fun of her girly order, she'd call the whole thing off.

 **Grigori Solutions: Guest: Less than a minute ago**

 _Black, with a heaping of whipped cream, caramel drizzle, chocolate dusting and sprinkles on top._

 **Grigori Solutions: Soul: Less than a minute ago**

 _That shit's going to rot your teeth and give you the sugar crash from hell._

 **Grigori Solutions: Guest: Less than a minute ago**

 _I have excellent teeth, for your information. Besides, no one drinks coffee for the taste._

 **Grigori Solutions: Soul: Less than a minute ago**

 _Albarn, it'd be healthier if you'd just get a soy vanilla latte like the rest of us._

Maka giggled.

 **Grigori Solutions: Albarn: Less than a minute ago**

 _You drink soy vanilla lattes?_

 **Grigori Solutions: Soul: Less than a minute ago**

 _Well I don't drink coffee for the taste. Do I? Don't know how you stand it once your whipped cream is gone. By the way, your computer should be working again._

 **Grigori Solutions: Albarn: Less than a minute ago**

 _You fixed it! Oh wow, it's got my name on it again and everything._

 **Grigori Solutions: Soul: Less than a minute ago**

 _Well, that's a bit of a lie. If you try to connect anything to the Bluetooth the whole system will fall apart, but if you ever wanted to get in touch again…_

Something about the confession was strangely endearing. It's not like he was her Netflix guy. They worked for the same company, for god's sake. She could contact him easily through the normal routes. Still she typed back a quick message.

 **Grigori Solutions: Albarn: Less than a minute ago**

 _I'll keep that in mind. And I'll see you and my coffee in twenty minutes._

 **Grigori Solutions: Soul: Less than a minute ago**

 _You'll see me and your_ sugary monstrosity _in twenty._

 **Grigori Solutions: Soul: Session Ended**

The chat boxes on Maka's computer closed of their own accord and she took a moment to smile to herself. Maybe having to call tech support wasn't so bad after all. That surprisingly pleasant thought in mind, she turned her attention back to the food thief.

 _Dear Food Thief,_

 _I do not negotiate with immature co-workers. I will not be leaving you any money on any plate, let alone a plastic Dora the Explorer Plate. (What are you, five?) Return my lunch to me and I won't get human resources involved._

 _Regards,_

 _Maka_

This time the file printed with ease and Maka wasted no time in taping it over the food thief's ransom note. That would teach him a lesson! Mind at ease, even if her stomach was now full of butterflies at the prospect of coffee from almost definitely flirting IT guy Soul, Maka set herself down to work. She had to catch up on lost time before she could enjoy her coffee.

Nearly twenty minutes later Maka sat at her desk, work finished and well-practiced expression of nonchalance fixed to her face. Maybe she had time to go check the fridge before Soul was meant to arrive. Her desk was very close to the break room, after all. She could make it back in a perfectly timed _fancy meeting you here_ sort of way. God, she needed to calm down. It was just coffee! It's not like she was marrying the guy, or even going on a real date. She hadn't even seen him person yet, he could be a total creep! Mind made up, Maka headed for the breakroom and her steadily escalating food war.

Despite all her anger at the person stealing her food, she still wasn't prepared to run into him face to face. Standing in front of the fridge, taping another red inked note over hers was a man with white blonde hair and a smug look on his face.

"Yo-You!" Maka sputtered, hackles raised.

The man spun around.

"Me?" he asked, his voice a rough growl, like he hadn't spoken out loud in a few hours.

His eyes were a strange shade of brown, almost red, possibly even more red than brown when the light reflected off the toaster, shining across his face. Strange eyes aside, nothing was going to distract Maka from her crusade.

"Yes, you! You're the one who's been stealing my lunch!"

"Shit." At least he had the decency to look a little ashamed.

"And now I've caught you red-handed!"

He shrugged and stepped aside so she could read the note.

 _Dearest Fettucine Alfredo,_

 _Considering you have not bent to my demands I will eat one bite of pasta every half hour until you concede. If you don't believe I'm serious, here's the proof._

 _Much appreciation,_

 _Food Thief_

A picture of her food being spooned up off another Dora the Explorer plate sitting next to today's newspaper was included at the bottom of the letter.

"If it makes you feel any better, today's pasta was slightly less mediocre than last week's." He shrugged again and buried his hands deep in his pockets. He looked more like a misbehaving puppy than a food criminal mastermind, but Maka was not a woman easily mollified.

"Why even steal it if it doesn't measure up to your ridiculous standards!?"

He shrugged yet again. Infuriating.

"Easier than doing it myself, I guess."

Maka clenched her hands into fists by her sides. She didn't have time for this right now. She was supposed to be meeting Soul for her much needed (now more than ever) coffee!

The man in front of her shifted awkwardly, "Look, not that this isn't endlessly entertaining, but I'm meeting someone so if you'll just move your fat ankles, I'll get on with my day."

Maka planted her feet more firmly, wishing she was wearing her heavy boots instead of the dainty kitten heels she wears to work.

"Well I'm supposed to be somewhere too, you know."

"Great, then you can get out of my way." He scooped up two coffees from the counter that she hadn't noticed before.

Her stomach hit her shoes. "No."

It was just her luck.

"What?"

In one hand he held a cup clearly marked soy vanilla and in the other was whipped cream, chocolate and sprinkles enclosed in a plastic top.

"Soul?" she demanded incredulously.

The colour drained from his face.

" _Albarn_?"

"You're the food thief!"

"You said your name was Albarn!"

"It's my last name, idiot! Who names their kid Albarn?"

"Clearly you've never been to prep school."

Maka balked. So not only was he an inconsiderate food thief, but he was an elitist jerk too!

"And clearly you're an up-himself prick who wastes work hours swearing and flirting on the work computers!"

He narrowed his eyes at her. Gaze flitting nervously to something over her shoulder. Maka half turned to follow his gaze and felt her face light up like a stop light. The entire office was watching them. Tsubaki was leaning against Maka's desk, ready to jump in at a moment's notice, and further back one of the interns was on the phone, probably calling security. Maka spun back towards Soul, and fixed him with her fiercest glare and finger outstretched, pointing menacingly at him.

"If you _ever_ come up here and steal my lunch again, _I will_ report you to HR and you will be _incredibly_ sorry you ever met me."

Soul shrugged and moved towards her, invading her personal space. Caught off guard, Maka scuffled backwards towards the open door. Arm outstretched, Soul dropped her coffee in the trash. He pulled away from her, took a long sip of his stupid, pretentious soy vanilla latte and nodded to her.

"Is that all, or did you want to go grab a Diet Coke too?"

Maka was vaguely aware of someone tugging at her arm to subtly hold her in place.

"I'll see you around, Albarn." Soul smirked and strode out of the break room, casual as could be.

"You better hope not!" she yelled after him, ignoring what she now recognized to be Tsubaki's hand gripped tightly around her arm.

He waved at her over his shoulder without turning around. It was that moment that Maka decided that she absolutely, completely, always and forever hated having to call tech support.


	2. September: The Way We Get By

**CHAPTER TWO: September "The Way We Get By"**

Maka had never expected to meet her match. It had been a widely known fact since middle school that Maka "The Reaper" Albarn was not a girl to be trifled with. She hadn't been a bully, exactly; she'd always considered herself more of a crusader. In high school, her terrifying methods and big heart had won her the captainship of both the cheer squad and the boys' lacrosse team. When the number of girls wanting to participate began to grow, the school board tried to start a girls' league, to protect their "delicate" femininity from the "rougher" way the boys played. One half hour meeting with Maka later, the boys' lacrosse team soon became mixed gender, and The Reaper got her own Wikipedia page. Her college experience, cut short as it was, had been a similar story. So no one, especially not Maka "The Reaper" Albarn could have expected someone, let alone the newest addition to the IT department, to start a feud with her.

He may have stopped stealing her food, but Soul the IT guy was more creative than his coffee order would suggest. It started small. Her whole lunch never disappeared again, but just enough would be missing that even Tsubaki thought she was being paranoid when she pointed it out. She fumed silently at her desk between phone calls, trying to orchestrate the perfect revenge. She didn't have easy access to the IT department like he did to the main office space and she had no legitimate reason to be there. She would have used his department head as an excuse to visit and wreak some havoc, but despite her managerial role, Elizabeth "Liz" Thompson, twenty-ambiguous and profiteer of nepotism, spent as little time in her department as possible. Even now, she was sitting on Tsubaki's desk, long legs prettily crossed in their snappy pant suit and manicured fingers flicking perfectly straightened blonde hair over her shoulder. Even dressed like a corporate clone, she managed to give off the air of that cool girl in the nightclub bathroom who compliments your dress and lets you cut in line. Maybe she could help after all.

Maka approached the pair, who were lost in giggles and scandalised shushing, "Please tell me you're not still gossiping about Bart and his _hard drive_."

In the past few weeks, Maka had heard enough sexual IT puns to last her a lifetime and while she was glad that her best friend was finally dating someone who could satisfy all her needs, she didn't necessarily want to hear about it every day.

Liz quirked an eyebrow. "Now Maka, that would be unprofessional. I am his boss after all." She managed to maintain a straight face for all of thirty seconds before both she and Tsubaki burst into giggles again.

Maka shook her head incredulously and waited for them to stop.

"Aww, Maka lighten up. Who'd you think set those two up in the first place?"

"I thought he just kept unplugging different parts of her system so she'd call him." Maka smirked; his intentions had been obvious from the start, really.

"And it worked, didn't it?" Liz and Tsubaki burst into another fit of giggles.

"Sorry, Maka, did you need something?" Tsubaki asked.

"Actually, I was wondering if Liz could help me out."

Liz smiled coyly. "This wouldn't have to do with a certain recent employee of mine would it?"

"Ugh yes! Thank you, no one else will take me seriously about this!"

"He's still sulking about your broken date, but I'm sure he'll get over it soon enough once he knows you're still interested."

Tsubaki mimed a finger running across her neck at Liz, but Liz ignored her and continued. "I can get him up here and in your path anytime you want."

"Still interested? Liz, no! I need to destroy that rude, vanilla latte drinking thief!"

"You're still angry about that?"

"Of course I am! Did you hear how two-faced he was!"

Liz blinked slowly, "Damn, you two are perfect for each other."

"Perfect!?" So much for Liz being intelligent and people savvy.

"This is some serious unspoken attraction."

Maka sputtered, "You're joking, right?!"

Liz shrugged. "He's still stealing part of your lunches right?"

Maka turned to Tsubaki, "I told you!"

"Exactly," Liz continued. "If he hated you, he'd just never have anything to do with you again, but he keeps making contact. Attraction, same as kindergarten."

Maka groaned. "This is just you trying to get more people visiting your department so you have someone to entertain you all day."

"Maka, this is me doing my civic duty. There is no worthier calling than setting your friends up, except maybe ripping off their boyfriends. Look at Tsubaki! She's happy, and Bart has been twice as productive lately so he can finish early to see her."

"It's true." Tsubaki nodded.

"And as talented as he is at a computer, that Soul could use some motivation to get more work done. If he put half as much effort into his work as he does portioning off the perfect amount of food from your lunch, I'd be able to fire the rest of them and save a ton of money!"

Maka shook her head, "Well you're going to have to pick someone else to, ah, _boost_ that jerk's productivity. Because I am not interested in him and he's definitely not interested in me."

Liz didn't try to fight her, but there was something unsettling about the surety in her gaze. "Alright, but if you change your mind, you know where to find me."

"Sure, at Tsubaki's desk."

They all laughed at that and Liz lollygagged around for another ten minutes before begrudgingly descending to the basement, or the "nerd dungeon" as she called it.

Maka's phone had been ringing all day, but no one was ever on the other line. Even now, after five p.m. with no one left in the office except her, the phone would not stop ringing. She should have known something was wrong from the first call. Only a prank call would be an automated message saying " _Sorry, no one is available to take your call right now_ " that promptly hung up on her. When she called the number back and was directed to a charity hotline, she had chalked it up to a mistake… until it happened again, and a third time. Finally, she found the charity's website and their contact phone number. It did not match the number in her call log. Unfortunately for her, the office phones fell under the domain of IT.

Maka sighed. She should probably take it as a sign to call it a day and head home. She had finished all her work hours ago anyway. She had just resorted to reorganising her computer files and crunching the numbers on her savings account since three. That had taken a nasty hit when her cat, Blair, had eaten something she shouldn't have and wound up needing surgery to remove it. Without Blair, the apartment was too quiet and as pathetic as it made her feel, Maka had been avoiding it. But there was nothing for it now. She needed to leave the office and face the silence sooner or later. Blair would be home from the vet in another day and everything would be back to normal. Maka was a grown woman; she could handle a night alone in her apartment for God's sake. Mind made up, she retrieved her keys from her purse and headed for the elevator. Technically she could walk to work, but with the evening temperature dropping she'd started opting for her car instead.

She approached her small red two-door without paying much attention to her surroundings. The night air was crisp and cool against her face, and not for the first time she was glad that the Grigori Solutions parking was open air. She slid into her car, quickly checked her mirrors, and backed out of her space and straight into something.

"Fuck!" Slamming on the breaks, Maka yanked the handbrake and leapt from the car, praying she hadn't hit a stray dog.

The figure lying on the ground behind her parking space and emitting a low moan was definitely not a stray dog. At least, not in the literal sense.

"Soul?" She knelt down beside him, afraid to touch or move him lest he was seriously injured.

"Albarn?" he sat up, wincing and clutching his head as he moved.

"I-"

"Are you really so pissed about your damn pasta that you'd hit me with your car?" He glared at her, somehow managing to look intimidating from the ground.

"It was an accident, I swear! I checked my mirrors, but-"

"Because I know you must have noticed that I've still been eating it." His glare settled into defiance.

"I didn't even see you. I'm so, so sorry."

"And I know you've been asking around for the best way to get back at me."

"I wasn't trying to murder you, Soul!" she snapped, all fears of potential lawsuits falling from her mind.

He studied her for a moment before shaking his head and muttering, "No, no, it's fine. You probably couldn't even see me." He offered up her cardigan. It must have fallen from where it was draped over her bag. "I was leaning down to pick this up."

"Oh." Maka took it from him and placed it awkwardly on her lap.

"What are you even doing here this late?" He touched his hairline gingerly as if he expected to find blood.

"Did I run into your head?"

"No, just the rest of me. The asphalt ran into my head." He glared at the ground.

"Oh."

"So what're you still doing here?" he asked as he continued to assess his extremities without standing up.

Maka sighed. "My phone won't stop ringing. It's some recording that hangs up on me."

"Weird."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?"

"You just hit me with your car and you're accusing me of messing up your phone."

"I have very good reason to- well, it's not like you- and I didn't mean to-"

"S'alright Albarn, I'm just messing with you."

Maka sighed and lay down on the asphalt beside him. She couldn't afford to compensate him for any injuries, not after Blair and especially not if she wanted to have enough money to re-enroll for the fall semester next year.

Soul glanced down at her warily. "What are you doing?"

"Wondering if my insurance covers food thieving coworkers."

"You're not my coworker. We're different departments."

Maka rolled her eyes at him.

"Come on, get up, you're being weird."

Maka groaned and covered her face with her hands instead.

"You're gonna ruin your clothes."

"Now you're being weird."

Soul stood up and stretched, cracking his back with the precision of someone who had been doing it for years.

"C'mon, Albarn."

"What? Don't you want to run me over to make it even?" There was a harder edge to her sarcasm than was entirely fair, given the circumstances.

"That wouldn't be cool."

Maka sighed and sat up. Soul offered her a hand, but she stood up on her own. He leaned against the back of her car, gingerly running a hand over his ribs. He didn't look like he planned on going anywhere anytime soon. Maka sighed and leaned against the car next to him.

"What are you doing here late?"

Soul shrugged. "Trying to fix up the department's calendar. Ms. 'Lizbeth won't hire an assistant, so the new kid has to work it."

Maka tried not to laugh. " _Ms. Lizbeth_?"

Soul twitched. "What, it's respectful! She's my boss, what should I be calling her?"

Maka shook her head. At least he could be polite to _someone_.

"Let me take you to a hospital. It's the least I can do."

He shook his head. "I'm good, thanks. No desire to go back to one of those ever."

Maka quirked an eyebrow and glanced at him sidelong. "Afraid of needles?"

"Something like that," he answered the asphalt.

"Are you sure you're alright?"

"Don't tell me you're going soft, Albarn." There was a hint of amusement in his tone.

"Hey, don't get any ideas. I still don't like you!" Maka crossed her arms indignantly.

"Yeah that's probably fair." Soul deflated and shoved his hands in his pockets.

"It's more than fair," Maka corrected.

He quirked an eyebrow at her. "Hitting me with your car doesn't make us even?"

Blushing, Maka turned away from him. "That was _an accident,_ and I've said I'm sorry."

"I'm just messing with you. We're cool. I mean, we're uh, things are fine with me if they're fine with you." He rubbed the back of his neck nervously, further mussing his already messy hair.

Maka chewed the inside of her cheek. There was something about the way the dimming light hit his face that made it seem softer. Even his eyes, which had previously seemed hooded by boredom and apathy, looked sincere. Damn it all to hell if he didn't strike such an endearing figure. And she did need her phone fixed after all.

Maka extended her hand, "Yeah, we're cool. I still don't like you! But we're okay."

Soul took her offered hand, his grip firm and the pads of his fingers calloused. His hand was warm around hers. Maka blushed, despite having absolutely no reason to, and hoped desperately that in the fading light he wouldn't notice and think it meant more than it did. He let her hand go and turned to walk away, but hesitated. Without turning around he called back, "I'll come see about your phone next week." And with a casual wave disappeared into the fading light.

Maka wasn't present when Soul showed up to her desk Monday morning, but there was a soy vanilla latte.


	3. October: Girls Chase Boys

**PART THREE: October "Girls Chase Boys"**

Halloween was, had always been, and would always be Maka's favourite holiday. It wasn't tainted by the Hallmark messages that were too cheesy or obnoxious, or by a desperate rush of shoppers flooding the roads; it just had free candy and a surplus of competitive party games and costume parades. Maka would deny it if ever outright accused, but one of the main reasons she had accepted a job at Grigori Solutions rather than their main competitor, Gorgon Industries, was their notorious themed holiday parties. She could put up with Thanksgiving and Christmas if Halloween was half of what she'd expected.

The office had been abuzz for weeks now with rumours of what the party would entail this year. The only thing anyone seemed to know for sure was that it would be held on the main floor where Maka worked. It made sense and hardly counted as news, considering it was the largest open space the company had in the building and it contained the conference room. As the thirty-first crept ever closer and more and more mysterious boxes of decorations began to arrive, it took all of Maka's willpower not to peek inside them as she signed for the deliveries. Her boss, Marie Mjolnir, was unusually present and spirited them away to her locked office with nothing more than a knowing smirk and a wink.

Maka sighed as she surveyed her closet sourced costume in the bathroom mirror. She'd decided to go as Buffy the Vampire Slayer when she found an old pair of red pleather pants from high school buried deep behind her formal dresses. A black tank top, silver cross, and boots weren't hard to find. All she had to do to her hair was try and get her bangs to part more to the side, but if that failed, she could always channel the season one hair style instead. It wasn't a bad effort, all things considered. So far, everyone actually seemed to know who she was. Well, Liz and Marie recognized her for the teen slayer at least. Usually she would go all out, her biggest spend of the year being Halloween, but she just couldn't manage that this year. Business school was expensive, and if she wanted to study full time and support herself, she had to buckle down now and build up her savings. Still, she'd made the wooden stake herself, from real wood too, so that was something impressive. Maybe she'd still have a chance at some kind of costume prize.

"Oi, Slayer, get in here. People are arriving." Liz's voice carried down the corridor and through the bathroom door, shortly followed by the sounds of the _Monster Mash_.

Maka flicked her bangs to the side one more time before giving up and letting them settle where they wanted, a wide smile spreading across her face as she headed out and into the party. Fancy costume or not, this was _her_ night.

An hour and a half later and Maka found herself leaning against the refreshments table with Liz, or Black Canary, as she was dressed tonight. Marie fussed around them, a vision as Elizabeth Swann circa _Dead Man's Chest_. It came as a surprise to no one that Marie had opted for a pirate costume. After a laser eye surgery gone wrong in her youth, she had covered the damaged eye with a patch.

"You know, if it weren't for her rampant domesticity, we'd make quite the terrifying trio." Liz smirked over her punch.

Maka chuckled, "I'm pretty sure we're terrifying under normal circumstances."

Liz shrugged. "All the fake leather adds something that a pencil skirt can't quite achieve."

Before Maka could reply, the music cut out mid song to be replaced by the Game of Thrones theme. The front door slammed open and Maka cringed at the sound, hoping the doorknob hadn't damaged the wall. If it had, it was her problem to fix tomorrow. Beside her, Liz buckled over laughing.

"I can't believe he did it!"

Maka turned her attention to the pair making the dramatic entrance. Looking incredibly pleased with himself in front of such a large audience was Bart "Black*Star" Saunders, scantily clad, with a long fake braid hanging down his back. The costume was so haphazardly put together that if it wasn't for Tsubaki by his side dressed similarly but with a toy dragon perched on her shoulder and a white blonde wig, even with the music Maka never would have guessed Black*Star intended to be Khal Drogo.

"Ox said he wouldn't orchestrate an entrance song for Black*Star unless he was willing to cough up a hundred bucks. I can't believe that loser actually did it." Liz clapped enthusiastically with the rest of the room as the theme song transitioned back to the regular party playlist.

Maka's leaned around Liz to look towards the makeshift DJ station. Wondering how smug Ox looked right now on a scale of _the Diet Coke incident_ to _redirecting all of her calls for a week_. However, it wasn't Ox behind the set up.

"No fucking way," Maka hissed, annoyance settling in her stomach with Marie's power packed party punch.

"What?" Liz followed her gaze and dissolved into cackling.

Orchestrating Black*Star's obnoxious entrance was none other than Soul Evans completely threatening his and Maka's tentative truce by being dressed up as Spike from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. His white blonde hair was slicked back with a ridiculous amount of gel and he was dressed head to toe in black, including Spike's signature floor length coat. Even though there was no way he could have known what she intended to go as, Maka found herself prickling. He did know that she liked Buffy. They'd had a lightning round of obscure Buffy trivia three weeks ago over coffee! Okay, maybe that wasn't entirely fair, but that didn't seem to matter so much when he was making her costume seem a weak attempt in comparison.

"I'm gonna kill him," she huffed.

"Well, that is your job now I guess." Liz managed to maintain an even tone before bursting out in laughter again. "Then again, I suppose that's not exactly how it wound up going down on the show is it…"

Before Maka could tell her friend exactly where she could take her suddenly religious adherence to canon, Tsubaki interrupted.

"Your costumes look fantastic!"

Maka sighed and regained her composure, fixing a bright smile to her face. "Hi, Tsubaki. Your costume looks fantastic too."

"It was Bart's idea." She blushed.

"Sounds like a salacious story," Liz leaned in to hear better and Maka rolled her eyes. She'd heard more than enough of these salacious stories to last a lifetime.

"Oh no, nothing like that. It was quite romantic really."

Liz quirked an eyebrow and Tsubaki blushed under her scrutiny.

"Well maybe it was also a little like that, but enough about me! Maka, you make a perfect Buffy!"

Maka scrunched up her nose. "I'm beginning to wish I'd gone as something else."

Tsubaki looked confused for a moment before she caught sight of Soul.

"Oh Maka, I thought you guys had made up!"

If _made up_ meant occasionally debating TV shows over coffee or actually having someone willing to solve her IT problems for the first time since she started working here, then sure, technically they had made up. Maybe they'd even qualify as friends by some standards. This, however, was pushing it.

"That was before he hijacked my costume!" Maka hissed.

"Maka, don't be ridiculous, he's well within his rights to come as whoever he wants. And really, it's not like he has many options unless he wants to wear a wig or dye his hair," Liz rationalised.

" _Tsubaki_ is wearing a wig! _Black*Star_ is wearing a wig!"

Maka followed Soul with narrowed eyes as he moved around the room towards Black*Star, presumably to collect whatever reward he was owed for removing Ox to achieve that grand entrance.

"Maka, you're too competitive. No one's going to judge your costumes against each other," Tsubaki laughed and reached for a cup of punch.

"I think she's more worried about being entered into the couples' category." Liz smirked.

Of course it was that moment that Soul's eyes caught hers, offering her a small smile and a wave. Maka glared at him and hefted her stake, moving it in a staking motion as a silent but clear warning. Soul's eyebrows shot up and he crossed his arms. A scowl formed on his face and he bared his teeth to her. They were unusually pointed to begin with, but he had also added individual fake fangs over his incisors to highlight his look. Maka's grip tightened around her stake and behind her Liz and Tsubaki giggled into their punch.

"It's not funny!" Maka spun around to chastise them. She and Soul had only just started to be more like friends than foes. She didn't want that further complicated, not when she'd finally started getting tech support and a reliable coffee break companion.

"You're right, it's hilarious! Aww c'mon Maka, we won't let the big, scary, fake vampire ruin your night. Just drink your punch."

Maka finished her cup in one gulp, incredibly glad that it was empty when Black*Star appeared behind her, picked her up and swung her over his shoulder.

"Another slave for the Khalasar!" Black*Star cackled.

"Put me down you idiot!" Her world upside down, Maka beat at his back and kicked at his front. It didn't seem to have any effect.

"Black*Star, you really should," Tsubaki warned, all too aware of Maka's strength and how it had gotten her banned from boxing at the local gym.

"Does this mean that the great and powerful slayer has met her match?" Black*Star made no move to put her down.

Calling on her old cheerleading days, Maka shifted her weight so her legs kicked over his head, successfully flipping into a perfect landing right side up with her feet planted on the ground. Muscle memory working ahead of her admittedly woozy head, her stake hand flung upwards in a punch for the landing pose and struck something hard.

"Again!?" A husky voice exclaimed.

Maka spun on her heel. Standing right behind her and clutching his nose was Soul the IT traitor. She had hit him with the blunt end of her stake. He didn't seem to be bleeding, but was glaring down at her fiercely, hands over his nose, looking more in character than he could have dreamed.

"Sorry?" Maka tried.

"Thought we were cool now," he muttered, lowering his hands.

Maka shrugged, smile playing at the corners of her mouth. "That was before you co-opted my costume idea."

He looked her up and down and quirked an eyebrow. "What do you mean? Aren't you Britney Spears?"

"Uh oh," Liz goaded with a wicked smirk.

"Britney Spears?" Maka repeated incredulously. No way did he just say that.

A smile tugged at the corner of Soul's mouth. He was mocking her. Well, two could play at that game. Maka gripped her stake tighter and pointed it at him, letting the wood rest against his leather clad chest.

"Want to guess again?"

He smirked down at her, open mouthed, letting his fake fangs show. "I will know your blood, Slayer. I will make your neck my chalice, and drink deep."

His voice was dark, with the hint of a fake accent he wasn't confident enough to commit to, his final sentence dripping from his mouth like fake blood down an actress' neck. It sent a shiver down Maka's spine and not entirely for the right reasons. Still, she wasn't about to let him win an unofficial rematch of their trivia competition. She knew the episode, the line, and exactly what happened to Spike after he said it. She smirked up at him, purposely ignoring the giggles of their spectating friends.

"Try not to fall into any open graves on your way out of my face."

Maybe it was the party lighting, or the punch, or the recent blood rush to her head, but his eyes almost seemed to twinkle down at her. A flash went off in her peripheral vision, breaking the moment.

"Awesome shot guys! Love the costumes! Keep up the good work." Marie smiled at them briefly before turning on Soul and shoving the camera at him.

"Now if _you_ wouldn't mind doing the job I _assigned to you_."

"Sorry, ma'am."

Marie waved him off. "Just don't let me catch you slacking off again. Now, I think we'll be out of punch soon…"

She wandered off towards her office in search of more punch.

"It's because I'm the new guy, isn't it?" Soul turned to Black*Star.

"It's because you were stupid enough to put film school on your resume," Liz interjected.

"Well, it's not like I even finished it. Thought college looked good on job applications." Soul shrugged.

"The Great Black*Star doesn't care about college! Make sure you get lots of pictures of me and Tsu, that's all that matters!" Black*Star struck a ridiculous pose, pulling Tsubaki to his side.

Shaking his head, Soul turned on the camera and took the picture, the flash bright and abrasive in the dim light.

"Would you mind getting one of us girls too?" Tsubaki asked, already reaching for Maka.

"Don't put it on Facebook!"

"Chill, Maka, we promise we won't tarnish your professional image." Liz grabbed for her.

"You delete it if she does anything!" Maka pointed sternly at Soul.

Soul glanced between them, seemingly torn between who he found more threatening. Tsubaki stepped in then.

"How about one nice one and one funny one. Everyone's happy that way."

"Only if the silly one doesn't go online!"

It was all well and good for them to have silly pictures online, they already had secure jobs that they enjoyed. She still had college to finish and a highly competitive field to enter. No one was going to be impressed by her work as a personal assistant, and they'd be even less impressed if they googled her name and found photos of her partying. She wasn't sure her friends were taking her seriously enough in their tipsy state, but she could push her point more firmly later. She let them dictate a number of silly poses themed by their costumes before insisting it was time for a good one. She draped her arm around Liz's shoulder and Tsubaki took her position on Liz's other side.

"On the count of three." Soul gestured for them to bunch in together a bit more.

Maka caught his eye. He stared back at her, raising an eyebrow.

"One."

"Make it a good one!" She tried not to look too concerned, but worried that it had seeped into her voice.

He hesitated, brows furrowed before nodding to her. "Two."

Maka fixed a bright smile to her face, sent up a silent prayer that her friends weren't doing anything silly and prepared herself for the imminent flash.

"Three."

"Thanks Spike!" Liz cheered, "I guess it's a good thing someone stuck a _Soul_ in you."

"That was bad even for you, Ms. Liz." He blushed under her scrutiny.

"Oh god Soul, would you drop the Ms., it's a party, don't be such a buzz kill. C'mon Tsubaki, I say it's time for some dancing."

"Maka?" Tsubaki held out a hand.

"I'll be over in just a sec. Go on ahead."

They disappeared into the growing number of dancing employees. Maka watched them for a moment, making note of where they'd situated themselves. She just had one thing to do before she joined them…

"Here." Soul thrust the camera into her hands.

"What?" She looked up at him curiously.

"You want to check the picture right? It's fine. They just smiled."

Maka looked down at the screen. Soul was right. It was a perfectly safe for work image, just a couple of girlfriends having some good, clean fun at an office party.

"Thanks." She handed it back to him, more than a little surprised at how much attention he had been paying to her words.

"You're pretty concerned with how other people see you, aren't you?" His tone was casual, but it was clear he was only pretending to look at the photos Marie had taken. He kept glancing at her out of the corner of his eye.

Maka bristled. "Well, it's important in business."

He scoffed. "Didn't really peg you for the corporate clone type."

Maka crossed her arms. "Well you're wrong! In Mama's family there's a long line of very successful business women. It's always been our dream."

He gave up on the camera and looked at her instead, his gaze strangely intense. "You never had another dream?"

Flustered under his scrutiny, Maka looked away. "Nothing will be better than making Mama proud. She gave up a lot to have me. She didn't have the opportunities I do."

Soul opened his mouth, but hesitated and considering his words carefully responded quietly. "Can't say I ever felt that much for my folks."

He shrugged as if to belie the implication of his statement and rubbed at the back of his neck, messing up his over gelled hair. Not sure whether she should press the matter or not, Maka took a big sip from her drink and, bolstered by liquid courage, opted for a joke.

"Well, I suppose they have been dead for centuries."

Soul groaned and nudged her shoulder. "You're as bad as Ms. Liz."

Maka nudged him back. "And you're a costume thief with a boring coffee order."

"Alright, _Slayer,_ think maybe you could leave me alone for half an hour so I can do _my job_?" His tone didn't have nearly as much bite as the complaint would imply.

Maka shrugged. "You'll be back."

"If you don't start harassing me first." He smirked.

"I _do not_ harass you!"

"So the regular demands for coffee breaks and constant misuse of the IT help chat are what then?"

"I- I do not- They're – Being friendly –"

He laughed at her. "Quit while you're ahead. I'll see you later."

Some indistinguishable time later, Maka's head was pleasantly fuzzy, her tongue just a little too heavy and her reasoning just sound enough to know that she'd be walking the few blocks home to her apartment and picking up her car from the company lot tomorrow. What her reasoning couldn't quite work out was how Soul Evans wound up joining her.

"Remind me why I'm doing this again?" Maka asked, hands thrust deep into her coat pockets.

"You've gone soft," Soul replied and turned his collar up against the chill.

"You haven't slept on my couch yet, it's super uncomfy, the worst, totally terrible!"

"I'll bet you a twenty that it beats Black*Star's sticky couch!"

Maka scoffed. Black*Star's couch may have been disgusting, but hers was quite possibly a medieval torture device reincarnated. At least it had been cheap.

"I'll take your money easy, but don't hold it against me and don't be expecting a massage in the morning."

"I think I've got better things to hold against you. Like the fact that you hit me with your car. Or that you're a giant nerd." Soul bumped his shoulder against hers lightly. At least she thinks it was intended to be lightly; they're both a little unsteady on their feet and she swayed away from him at impact.

Maka grumbled something about ungrateful ex-cons skating on very thin ice, unsure if her words were making any sense at all or were just unintelligible slurs. Her head was spinning from Marie's Halloween punch, or maybe it was the lasting effects of the flashing dance lights and deafening music. She couldn't be entirely sure; something about Soul's proximity was making everything even fuzzier. It was probably all three. Definitely the punch. Mostly the punch.

Soul laughed behind his hand. "You're drunk aren't you?"

Maka felt herself flush at the admittedly true accusation. "Well, so are you!"

"I didn't offer a massage!"

"Neither did I!" Maka was sure her face was as red as his eyes, and not because of the cold or the punch.

" _And expect a massage in the morning_ ," he imitated her in a pitchy high voice.

"I did not say that! I don't sound like that! You're being a butthead!"

"Ah c'mon, that's harsh, Albarn."

"If the butt fits… butthead."

"Well, if that's how it's gonna be! Well, then, I… _I never really liked you anyways… and you have stupid hair_!"

Maka stopped in her tracks to stare at him. Drunk or not, she knew her obscure Buffy quotes. "Are you… quoting Spike at me? To insult me? After I've agreed to let your drunk undead ass crash on my couch?"

Soul huffed and turned back to face her, arms crossed petulantly across his chest. "Well, if you look at the context of the scene, he's not really insulting her is he! He's just trying to act like he still doesn't care!"

Maka blinked at him, waiting for him to realise what he just insinuated.

"Aw shit." Soul smacked himself on the forehead.

"Real cool."

"Ugh, you know what I meant."

"Yeah," Maka smirked, irritation replaced with smugness. "You _liiiike_ me. You think I'm fun to be around."

"Hey, I never said that!"

"You'd rather crash on my couch than Black*Star's, you're a giant nerd just like me, and you think I'm _coooool._ "

"Do not!" Soul bristled and clutched his arms tighter around himself.

"No, you were nice, in your own weird way. You _liiiike_ me. You want to be _friiiiiieeends_."

"Ah, you're worse than tomorrow's hangover."

Maka smiled and bounded up to him unsteadily, bumping her shoulder against his hard enough for him to stumble. "You think I'm bad, wait 'til you try to the couch."

On the bus the next morning, hiding behind sunglasses and plain coffee she had made them at home, Maka struggled to keep Soul from spilling it every time he nodded off. The fifth time it happened, she huffed and took the thermos from him.

"Oh just go to sleep already."

She was more than a little surprised when instead of protesting and demanding his coffee back, he leaned his head against her shoulder and muttered, "Thanks, friend."


	4. November: I Wanna Be the One

**PART FOUR: November "I Wanna Be the One"**

The official story for why Marie can no longer make her final cross country business trip is that she has a nasty bout of food poisoning. The truth is morning sickness so bad that she'd had to be hospitalised for dehydration. And that's how Maka found herself sitting in a largely deserted departure lounge at ten to midnight, having skipped dinner, waiting for a flight back home that had already been delayed three and a half hours. Most of the other flyers had left already, calling it quits and accepting airport sourced accommodation. Not Maka. She was going to sit in this departure lounge until she was thoroughly disgruntled and offered an upgrade to business class. After the slap-dash day she'd had, she felt she'd more than earned it. She grumbled and fidgeted with the hem of her tight pencil skirt. In her last minute rush to get ready and make it to the airport in time, she had grabbed for clothes blindly, accidentally grabbing a skirt that no longer fit.

"Stop fidgeting, you're making me nervous." Next to her, Soul's knee nudged hers.

Maka nudged him back."I am _not_ fidgeting."

"You keep wiggling."

She glared at him unseen as his attention was focused on the DS in his hands. Slumping back in her seat, Maka checked her emails for the tenth time in five minutes. She had been patiently awaiting more news on Marie and was feeling more than a little skinted. Having fielded a phone call at five-thirty in the morning from a strange man using Marie's phone, demanding she get to the airport immediately, _that_ _she pick up Soul Evans and his tricked out presentation system on the way, and oh by the way deliver the presentation you've never practiced before yourself in Marie's stead before even bothering to explain who he was and why Marie couldn't make the trip on her own!_ Well, Maka felt she was owed at least a brief update on how Marie was feeling. Maybe a thank you for pulling this off and landing a new client. She huffed again and ignoring her grumbling stomach, tugged at hem of her skirt, wondering if she should risk trying to lengthen the tiny slit up its side for some more space.

"For God's sake, Maka. Go buy anything other than that skirt and change."

Maka stared at him blankly and felt herself flushing. "And just exactly what are you looking at?"

He turned back to his DS. "Just borrow my sweats or something. I'm not sitting next to five hours of this."

"You're really bossy for support staff, you know that right?"

Irritated, he replied darkly, "You do know that half the reason we got that sale was how your ass looks in that skirt, right?"

Maka shot up, hands on her hips. "Excuse me?"

Soul slumped further into his seat. "Not saying you didn't do a good job, just saying that exec wasn't paying attention."

She stood there sputtering for a moment before snatching his bag and stomping off towards the toilets.

"What the hell are you doing now?" he called after her.

"Changing!" Maka called back.

How he had the foresight to pack a bag with extra clothes she'd never know. It was supposed to be a one day turn around. Fly in first thing, meetings all day and then home for a late dinner. She had only grabbed her purse on her way out the door and had postponed eating expecting it either on the plane or once safely home, and she was regretting it now. She slammed Soul's bag down on the bathroom counter and started rifling through the mess of charger and connector cables that dominated most of the space. She stole some gum when she came across it, tongue rolling over her fuzzy teeth at the thought of feeling clean again. After a moment's hesitation she also opted to borrow a shirt. She couldn't stay in her stiff work blouse all night. Once she was changed and the drawstring of the sweats pulled tight, waistband rolled over twice and the long legs rolled up ridiculously over her ankles, she took a deep breath and emerged. Feeling immensely better with minty breath and comfortable sweats, she started to calm down. It wasn't fair to take her frustrations out on Soul. He'd had her back the whole day, helped prep her on the flight over, fed her coffee periodically, and staged audio-visual problems as a distraction whenever she faltered or lost her place in the unfamiliar pitch. Now, he'd even leant her a change of clothes.

She sighed and re-tied her hair into a higher ponytail. Somehow since Halloween, Soul had become an increasingly present figure in her life. She could even call anyone in IT for help now thanks to his influence. Not that she did unless she had to. Most of her computer problems were easier to solve in person and he always arrived with coffee or something to eat. She didn't necessarily get the most work done while he was there, but she enjoyed his visits all the same. She should have been sick of him, really. Half the time he followed her home too, for takeout and whatever new popular TV show was airing at prime time. Usually for a debate following too and sleepily kicking each other in rebuttal before occasionally falling asleep cramped on the couch. There was no other way to explain it. Somehow, they'd actually become friends.

Back at their spot in the departure lounge, Soul sat quietly immersed in his DS game. Sitting next to him on her chair was a large McDonald's bag.

He glanced up at her approach. "Thought you might need this."

She almost burst into tears with gratitude. He'd gotten her the biggest meal deal on the menu, drinks and all.

"You didn't have to. I was being a-"

"Quit your whining and give me a fry." He muttered, face downturned and hidden behind his hair.

She offered the bag up to him before digging into it herself. Around them the airport was already decked out for Christmas. She supposed that wasn't so bad, as it was the last week of November. At least the decorations hadn't gone up the moment Halloween ended like in most places. Still, if it wasn't for the deliciously chemical-ketchupped burger in her mouth, it would have left a sour taste. Her holiday season was spent alone with her father, desperately trying to recreate the same feeling from her childhood. It was depressing every year.

"How's your town going?" she asked between mouthfuls of burger.

"Better now that you're not distracting me with your twitching," he replied, without looking up from the screen.

"And you call me a nerd."

"Animal Crossing is _not_ _nerdy_."

Maka laughed. "It's a game for little kids! You're twenty-four years old."

"Twenty-three."

"Same difference."

Soul stared at her over his DS, pouting adorably. "But Makaaaa, my town _needs_ me."

" _I_ need you." Maka felt herself flush violently. Had she actually said that? Out loud?

He quirked an eyebrow at her, the corners of his mouth twitching. "You need me?"

"Who else is going to bring me coffee and fight the good war against my raging computer?" She huffed primly, resolutely ignoring her blush.

"You know the others will help you out now." She wanted to wipe that smug smirk right off his face. And she wanted to bleach her treacherous brain for supplying a number of non-violent options for how to achieve it.

"Well, no one else will watch Hannibal with me."

"I barely watch that freak fest with you. How you always get hungry and want to eat through it astounds me."

"I rest my case." Maka munched loudly on some fries, eyeing him sideways, not sure if he's smiling or smirking anymore.

His voice wasn't so much teasing as hopeful when he answered, "Well, if you _need_ me."

"Oh, just get back to your silly Shibusen town, Mr. Mayor."

He chuckled from deep in his throat, the sound comforting and thrilling all at once, before turning his attention back to his game. There was something endearing about his lingering smile and Maka couldn't help but wonder if it was entirely due to the game.

Fifteen minutes later Maka was munching on her last chicken nugget and Soul had abandoned his DS to fiddle with a camera instead. He pointed it at her and before she could swallow and protest, the flash had gone off.

"Soul!"

He smirked at her. "Just testing. I'm deleting now."

"I don't know why you keep doing that." Sighing, Maka rolled up her trash.

He shrugged. "Marie liked my work on Halloween. Wants me to keep practicing."

"Not on me."

"Don't worry, Albarn, nothing online. I know the drill."

He smiled at her over the camera, but didn't lower it. She stuck her tongue out at him, turning away when her phone beeped with a message alert. She fumbled with it in her haste for news about Marie. Her brow furrowed.

"Is the boss alright?" Soul asked, not missing a beat.

"No. I mean, I still don't know. It's from Mama."

"Everything okay?"

Maka sighed and put her phone down. "The usual. Just another list of approved business programs and a financial plan for me to get there."

"That's your dream, right?"

Maka shrugged and pushed her fringe back from her face. "I'd be good at it."

"I'm good at things I don't want to do for a living."

"Good for you… Oh, I'm sorry that sounded really mean."

Soul shrugged. "You're really tired. It's been a long day."

"You can say that again." Maka rested her head in her hands.

"You're really tired. It's be-"

"Not literally." She tried not to smile, but failed rather miserably.

Soul stood, reaching for her trash with one hand and patted her head with the other.

"Maybe we should call it quits for the night then. The airport'll be closed soon. There's no more flights leaving till tomorrow. Might as well sleep on a bed somewhere."

Maka hung her head in defeat. "Alright."

Maka set her purse down on the bed by the window and shrugged out of her thick winter coat before letting herself sink onto the bed beside it. On the matching bed beside it Soul let out an audible sigh of relief as he too sunk into place. Not even the concierge's assumption that they were a couple and the resulting embarrassment and flailing explanation that they needed _twin beds, not a queen_ could rile her up at this point, not when sleep was suddenly such an achievable goal.

"We should probably take our shoes off or something," she muttered, kicking carelessly.

"Mmm."

"Soul, don't fall asleep before you take your shoes off."

"How d'you know I haven't," he mumbled.

"Know you."

"Fair."

She heard an anguished moan and then shoes thumping to the ground.

"Better?" he asked.

"Better."

"You're a picky nag. You know that right?"

"You love it," Maka grunted to her pillow before sitting up.

Under her borrowed shirt Maka unclasped her bra and slid it out from under her sleeves, ignoring Soul's affronted stare, folding it neatly by her purse on the bedside table before laying down and turning to face him properly. He was a lump hastily buried under his blankets, only his bright eyes and shock of white-blonde hair visible.

"You look dumb," she giggled.

His voice was somewhat muted by the blankets, but Maka could understand him clear enough. "Says the woman drowning in my clothes."

"At least I'm not afraid of a bra." She smirked.

She watched the colour rise up what was visible of his face. "I am not afraid of a bra."

Maka laughed, "Could have fooled me."

"Maybe I'm just surprised that a tiny tits like you needs one, let alone one like that."

"Don't be crude." Maka eyed her plain white bra. It featured a simple lace overlay over the cups, but it wasn't anything spectacular by any definition, just a bra. Soul was being childish.

"I'm not the one stripping," Soul mumbled with superiority.

Maka scrunched her nose up at him and pulled the blankets up to her chin. "Don't make me throw something at you."

Soul grumbled and shot a glare at the bra. Maka ignored him and reached one-armed for her phone, determined to check it one last time before giving up completely. Unsurprisingly, there was still no news from Marie. She didn't want to worry, but a small part of her did.

"Your mom?" Soul asked quietly.

"No…" Maka answered, setting the phone aside.

"What's the deal with that?"

Maka was silent for a moment, undecided in what to say.

"You don't have to say. Didn't mean to be rude."

She smiled a little to herself. "It's okay. It's just not really something that comes up a lot."

Soul scoffed. "I can't get through a day without you bringing it up at least once."

Maka burrowed deeper under her blankets.

"Must sound like I'm trying to prove something."

She heard Soul shift under his blankets, his face now revealed. "You don't need to prove anything to me. I already know you're the best."

Maka blushed, very glad that she was still hiding under the covers.

"It's what my family does," she muttered.

"I know something about that," Soul whispered back.

Maka quirked an eyebrow at him in question and he continued, his voice shaking slightly.

"Whole family of classical musicians going back generations. I'm talking like twelfth century. Except I'm not so into that. I play piano alright, but I like movie soundtracks. I like to break the rules and try new things. I also like seeing how music can change things. So one day I just explode at the breakfast table, tell them I won't pursue classical music and that I'm going to film school and they can't stop me."

"That was really brave."

Soul laughed mirthlessly. "Maybe until I dropped out because I couldn't hack it."

"That's nothing to be ashamed of."

"I told my whole family to basically get fucked and then I didn't even see it through… Ah I'm sorry, I just made it all about me."

"No! No, it's fine."

They lay in silence for a moment. Maka chewed the inside of her cheek thoughtfully as if it may keep her from saying what she wanted to.

"I'm a drop out too." She spoke in barely more than a whisper, already anticipating the usual chorus of " _what you? An Albarn? Maka "The Reaper" Albarn, Valedictorian?"_

Soul's tone was even when he replied, "Your mom about as happy with that as mine are?"

Maka sighed. "She blames my dad. Thinks he was a bad influence. He is, but not for that."

Soul nodded sagely from his pillow.

"Guess we're a pair of fuck ups then."

Maka laughed despite the tears brimming at the edges of her eyes. She was too tired for this conversation, or maybe just tired enough. She hadn't told anyone she's met since leaving school that she dropped out. She'd always explained it away as a family emergency, or a change in finances. Neither were entirely untrue, but neither was the whole truth. Neither explained her mother cutting her off financially for getting a B, or her father's car accident, or how Maka used all of her savings to pay his medical bills when his own fell short. She wanted to tell Soul all of it, every last ugly piece of the truth, to risk falling for the chance that someone might understand and catch her. But not tonight. It's too late and she's been too long without sleep.

She sighed, long and melancholy. "Guess we are. A musical genius and a valedictorian reduced to IT and reception."

"I wasn't a genius."

Maka peeked her head over the covers and met his eyes. "You were. I can tell."

Soul blushed. "You don't know shit about music."

"I know you." She couldn't be sure in the dark room but, she thought his blush intensified.

"Go to sleep you sappy nerd" he muttered, disappearing under his blankets again.

"Good night, piano man."

"You're _such a nerd_."

"You love it," Maka murmured and flipped onto her other side.

There was silence for a while after that. On the verge of sleep, already feeling herself falling, Maka heard his voice again, solemn and quiet like a promise, "I do."


	5. December: Christmas Sweaters

**PART FIVE: "Christmas Sweaters"**

Maka Albarn had always been an overachiever, no one would ever deny that. But even Maka Albarn grumbled when she had to trudge through a snowstorm to return to work the first day of her Christmas break because she'd been too busy goofing off with her idiot of a computer nerd best friend instead of finishing her filing and prep for January.

He had barely been without his stupid camera since they got back from Marie's business trip. She'd given up resisting him, instead pulling faces, going on rants, holding up signs with rude words or vaguely insulting comments whenever he looked away or left it in her care. Really, it was almost worth being behind on work. Somehow the camera had turned from something intimidating and threatening into something fun. She almost looked forward to the moment when he'd pull it out, not the least because it led to a number of pranks on Black*Star, only one of which had ended badly for her and Soul. She'd never look the old supply closet in the face, or rather door, again.

Who was she kidding; it wasn't the camera that made her heart soar in excitement and anticipation. It was Soul. How had that happened?

Maka frowned at her unsorted filing. She didn't date. She definitely didn't date her coworkers. Yet here she was, contemplating just that. She couldn't deny that Soul had somehow become an important part of her life. Their quick coffee breaks had turned into lengthy lunch breaks that had turned into all night movie marathons and weekends spent wandering their favourite spots in the city, or cooped up at her place watching movies for their soundtracks. He had a toothbrush in her bathroom, a tie in her closet and a firm hold on her whipped cream loving heart.

Maka groaned. This was meant to be an easy job to help get her back on her feet and it had. She'd managed to work enough overtime and do well enough to earn a very generous Christmas bonus. She could go back to business school, prove herself, reconcile with her mother and yet, her applications sat empty on her desk. She pushed them aside and turned her attention to the two addressed envelopes she needed to mail today. It wasn't too late. She could still put them in the shredder, pretend like she'd never strayed from the course, from the family dream…

"Maka?"

She squealed and jumped in her seat, scrambling for something to defend herself with. No one else was meant to be here.

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you." The voice was deep, familiar and holding back laughter.

"Shit Soul, what are you even doing here?"

He approached slowly with his hands held out in mock surrender.

"Had a project I needed to finish. What are _you_ doing here? Surely not even you're a big enough nerd to come pull overtime three days before Christmas."

"It's not overtime, it's time owed. Time that technically you owe me seeing as how you're the reason I'm behind." She tried to maintain her composure, posture rigid and eyes glued to her computer screen.

"Never forced you to ditch." He shrugged, leaning against the edge of her desk.

Maka sighed and risked a glance up at him. He smiled down at her, affectionate and unguarded. She felt a flush creeping across her face and resolutely ignored it.

"In fact," he continued, smile turning devilish, "If I remember right, it was you who decided we needed to start a prank war with Black*Star."

"He started it!"

"You're a real hell raiser Albarn. You know that?"

Maka pouted at him. "You're my enabler, that's just as bad."

" _I'm your_ enabler, am I?" His fingers tapped a steady rhythm against her desk, close enough to hers that one wayward beat might see them touch.

Maka poked them gently. "Partner. I'm not serving a full sentence while you get off with accessory charges."

He hummed somewhere from the back of his throat and chased her finger around the desk. "Do you have much work to finish?"

Maka walked her fingers quickly around his. "Maybe forty minutes' worth."

"Come down to IT when you're finished? I want to show you something." His fingers stilled and she looked up at him, meeting his gaze.

She glanced back down to their fingers and tried to stay cool. "If you've made a Christmas tree out of Diet Coke, you're too late. Black*Star beat you to that one."

He sighed. "It's not a Christmas tree of Diet Coke."

"What is it?" She inched her fingers closer to his.

"A surprise."

"A nice surprise?"

He moved faster than she'd expected, his larger hand dwarfing her own, squashing her fingers flat beneath his. She pouted at him and he smiled back.

"Finish your work, nerd."

He pushed off from her desk, but kept a hold of her hand, squeezing once before letting go. Her heart hammered inside her chest and she turned back to her work. She could probably get it done in twenty-five minutes if she really focused.

Maka hesitated just inside the half open door to IT. Soul sat hunched over at a desk with his back to her, fussing over something on the computer. Half of her wanted to chastise him for his bad posture, but she leaned against the doorframe instead, taking in the sight of him. His pale hair was fluffy and free of gel, falling a little too far down his neck to be considered fashionable. He was wearing the hideous Christmas sweater that Marie had presented every employee with before the break, a garish black and yellow striped pattern with a red reindeer that wasn't smiling so much as looking like it was about to devour the souls of the damned. Somehow it worked on him. If Maka was being completely honest, she thought pretty much everything worked on him. Things were different since the business trip. She'd decided to stop denying herself her dreams.

"Hey." She pushed off from the wall with a smile.

Soul spun in his chair to face her and smiled back nervously. "Hey."

"So what's this surprise?"

He gestured for her to come over and she pulled up a chair beside him. He clicked away at the computer, closing and opening programs and documents.

"You know how I couldn't hack it in school?" he asked quietly.

Maka hmmed in confirmation.

"What I didn't tell you is that I haven't really written anything since, never finished any projects. Until, well… It just kind of evolved."

He opened up a final file and expanded it to full screen before turning to her, blushing as red as his eyes, but resolutely holding her gaze. "This is your song."

He tapped something on the keyboard and one note played, strong and simple. That note grew into a melody that was both calming and challenging: a presence that couldn't be ignored, the musical personification of the strength of both softness and standing one's ground. As the music rose, a video started playing across the screen. While there was no audio except for the music, footage of the past months played across the scene. As Maka watched herself pulling faces in an airport lounge, dancing badly at the Halloween party, running from a prank gone wrong on Black*Star, a smile spread further across her face than it had in years. She saw herself talking to the camera, grappling for it, turning it on an unsuspecting Soul that one time he'd left it at her desk while he went to get their afternoon coffees. Short clips flashed by of her working hard at her desk, scribbling into a notebook on her couch in the previous day's pyjamas, approaching with coffees, laughing at something, frowning at something, chewing someone out for improper kitchen etiquette, pulling Soul in for a selfie she hadn't realised was filmed in video mode. The music built to a high before slowly coming down, tapering off until it ended the same note as it began with. The final shot faded to black before a message appeared.

 _For Maka,_

 _You gave me the courage to face my demons and my dreams._

Maka stared at the screen, not ready to turn to Soul. He understood her, recognised her soul and all the ways her heart was shared and torn. She thought about the image of herself curled over a notebook and the envelopes on her desk, one being a letter to her mother and the other an application, not to business school, but to a writing program. He didn't know she had thought about applying, had never pressed to know what was in her notebooks, or how she spent her work hours once all the work was done, but he'd recognised it was something that mattered to her. He'd included that quiet part of her that no one else had noticed. There would be time to return his openness and honesty, to share with him all her dreams in explicit detail. In that moment her life appeared both brighter and clearer, a life filled with beautiful words, music that resonated and Soul.

She turned to him, emotion thick in her voice. "Soul-"

He pawed nervously at the back of his neck. "Before you say anything. I don't expect anything. I just wanted you to know. You deserve to know."

She couldn't remember what doubt felt like anymore.

"Soul." Her voice was warmer this time and she didn't try to hide the smile spread wide across her face.

He looked at her hopefully and shifted in his chair, leaving his palms facing upwards on his knees. Maka knew she was probably supposed to take them, but instead she stood and walked back over to the door.

"Maka?" He looked terrified.

Maka's smile grew. "Come over here."

He stood slowly and walked towards her with purpose to stand under the doorway. His eyes never left her, but he quirked an inquisitive eyebrow. Maka looked up slowly and his gaze followed hers towards the mistletoe hanging there.

"Really?" he asked, barely a whisper.

Maka nodded. "I'll even let you steal my lunch after too."

Soul smiled down at her and gently cupping her face in his hands leaned down towards her. Maka closed her eyes in anticipation. She wasn't disappointed.

A year from then, sitting in front of a tree in their new apartment with a sparkling ruby sitting on her left ring finger, Maka would reflect that she was absolutely, completely, always and forever grateful that she had called tech support.

* * *

 **Authors Note:**

While it may not be common knowledge, 2014 was an incredibly difficult year for me. I won't go into detail here other than to say that where I am now and where I was almost exactly a year ago could not be more far apart. I owe a lot of that positive change to the people who helped make this story a reality. For everyone who encouraged me, friend, acquaintance or stranger on tumblr and on the resbang chat, thank you. I would not have started writing again if it wasn't for you. To my amazing betas fabulousanima, kawaiipanda, awesomeasusual,khaleesimaka, zxanthe, and ackhilleus who have supported me and vastly improved this story over the past months, thank you. Of course a huge thanks to my artists swordbreaker and fistfirst who have supported me through all my writer's angst and provided beautiful artworks that brought this story to life. Finally I'd like to thank my outernet friends and family who always listened to me talk about this story even if they weren't 100% sure what a resbang, soma or 10k minimum fic meant.


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